


It Must Have Been The Wind

by WonderlandPup



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Non descriptive abusive elements, also, but not really, i know you're better than this, i'm sorry zhou mi, kind of angst?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-10-22
Packaged: 2021-01-13 14:29:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21127925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WonderlandPup/pseuds/WonderlandPup
Summary: Yifan hears weird noises from the apartment upstairs. Zitao says it must have been the wind.ORSnapshots of Yifan trying to save Zitao





	It Must Have Been The Wind

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fully published fanfic!! Please be kind, and feel free to comment! Inspired by Alec Benjamin's song, "Must Have Been The Wind".

For a moment, there’s silence. Yifan wonders, again, if maybe he was dreaming, when the door opens and a young man slips through, shutting the door behind him. He's barely more than a teen, slender, with his dark red sweater swarming around him. It's zipped all the way up, stopping just below the boy’s chin.

“Can I help you?” He meets Yifan’s eyes for a beat, before looking back down at the floor.

“Yeah, I’m sorry to bother you, it’s just, well, I thought I heard a noise up here. And crying. And I just wanted to make sure nobody was hurt.”

“Ah, everyone's fine here. Are you sure it was this apartment? I haven’t heard anything.”

“I thought so. I guess I could be wrong.” Yifan frowns. The noise definitely came from this boy’s apartment. And looking closer at him, his eyes do seem red, and he was fidgeting, twisting the hem of the sweater in his fingers.

“Zitao!” A man’s voice yells through the door, and the boy flinches, ever so slightly. If Yifan hadn’t been suspicious, he might have missed it.

“I have to go in now,” the boy murmurs. “I hope you find your noise. Maybe it was just the wind? Have a nice night, sir.” The boy, Zitao slips back inside, firmly shutting the door before Yifan has a chance to respond.

***---***---***---***---***

“Are you sure you weren’t dreaming, dude? This was, what, three in the morning?” Sehun looks skeptical, a nice change of pace from his usual look of boredom.

Yifan shrugs. “I don’t know, man. This was… unreal. Like, this kid looked scared to go back in.”

Jongdae frowns from his spot at the counter, curly hair falling into his eyes. “I don’t like it. Like, you can’t do anything, because we don’t know what’s going on, and it's not really your business, but if he’s in trouble…” he trails off, and Yifan thinks to Jongdae’s ex, Jaejoong.

Yifan never got the details on the relationship, but he remembers all the days Jongdae would come in to the parlor with bruises around his neck, his wrists, eyes blackened and lips split. It was Junmyeon who handled it, with gentle hands and soothing voice for Jongdae, and a cold, dangerous look in his eyes when he left to confront Jaejoong. The next thing Yifan knew, Jongdae was single and living in the spare room in Junmyeon's apartment above the tattoo parlor, and Yifan hadn't heard from nor seen Jaejoong since then.

If Jongdae is drawing comparisons to his own past abuser, then things are likely as bad as he fears, but what can he do, when he doesn't know everything that's going on?

***---***---***---***---***

Yifan stretches, getting ready for bed when he hears a door slam on the floor above him. He tenses, straining to hear something, anything. There's a voice, the same one that called Zitao back inside, yelling, but Yifan can't make out what the man is saying. He hears something shatter, followed by another slamming door, by the hallway this time.

Yifan figures the last slam is the man leaving. Or Zitao. He waits a minute, takes a breath. Takes the elevator upstairs.

Zitao steps out again, hands shaking where he's twisting his shirt again, green this time. He's definitely been crying, eyes still watery. His gaze flicks up to Yifan's eyes for a moment, before looking down again.

“Hi." His voice is soft, and he doesn't ask why Yifan is here this time. It’s far from the first time. He already knows.

"Hey," Yifan tries to keep his voice soft, remembers Jongdae flinching if he spoke to loudly, too suddenly. "I thought I heard something again. Are you sure you're okay?"

Zitao hesitates. There's a second, just a breath of a second, where Yifan thinks that _maybe_ this boy will be honest with him. Will tell him everything.

"Yes, sir. We're fine, here. It's really nice of you to always check. But we're okay."

Yifan hesitates too. "Okay. Okay, if you're sure."

Zitao nods. "I wish I could tell you about the noise, but I haven't heard a thing. It must have been the wind again."

Yifan lets it slide. He bids the boy goodnight, and goes back to his apartment downstairs. He thinks about the lack of weather, of wind. Yifan doesn't sleep well in the silence of the night.

***---***---***---***---***

Yifan connects his phone to his bluetooth speaker, a little one shaped like a dragon’s head that Jongdae had given him for his birthday. He pulls up Lean On Me and sets it on repeat, volume up all the way, and sets about his routine. Hopes that Zitao hears it.

There's no sign that night that Zitao hears it. Or that night after. Or the night after that one.

All the while, Yifan heard more crashes. More yelling. All the while, Zitao says it must have been the wind.

***---***---***---***---***

“That’s sad, though.” Baekhyun’s mouth turns down at the corners as Yifan tells the others about the boy upstairs. He frowns around his food, and Sehun wraps his arms around his waist in hug.

“What else can I do? I know I can’t do anything to him or the other guy, but I’m moving in a month and I’m gonna be honest, I don’t like the thought of leaving him alone with whoever is in there living with him.”

“There’s not much you can do, honestly. If anything else is going to happen, this boy, Zitao, he’s going to have to come to you.” Kyungsoo glares at Baekhyun and Sehun as he talks, but there’s no real heat in his gaze.

“What if he doesn’t come to me?” He looks at his friends for help. When Sehun had invited them all to dinner with him and Baekhyun, Yifan had thought it would be the perfect opportunity to get everyone’s opinions. So he grabbed Jongdae and Junmyeon, went down to Kyungsoo’s restaurant, and told them all what was happening. He hadn’t told the others from the tattoo parlor anything since that first night. And Kyungsoo and Baekhyun didn’t know at all. But looking at them now, they all seem at a loss for what to say.

Nobody has any help or advice for this.

***---***---***---***---***

“Hey, Yifan, walk me to my car?” Kyungsoo stands up, pulling his jacket on. Yifan stands up obediently, waiting as Kyungsoo calls a reminder to his manager to lock up the restaurant properly, and then follows him out back to his car. Yifan waits for the inevitable Serious Conversation, and they actually make it all the way to Kyungsoo’s car before it starts.

“Yifan, I want to ask you about that boy of yours.” Kyungsoo turns to look up at him, his dark eyes serious. “What are you going to do if he doesn’t come to you?”

“I mean there’s nothing I can do. You said so yourself, right?”

“That doesn’t mean you agreed with me.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve always been the hero type. But Yifan, you can’t save everyone, you know that right? At some point, _you have to let some people go_. You can’t save someone who won’t accept that they need saving.”

Yifan blows out a sigh. “You worry a lot, Soo.”

“Says the guy trying to save a stranger. Look, Yifan, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen that look in your eyes. That look you had in there. It hurts me to see you scared like that.”

Yifan hesitates. “Soo, are you okay?”

“Of course I am. I know we broke up, but we’re still friends right? I care about you, asshole, and I don’t wanna watch your heart break if you can’t save this kid. Just be careful, okay?”

He waits for Yifan to nod before he gets into his car, and Yifan stands there after he leaves, feeling more confused than before.

***---***---***---***---***

Yifan lets out a groan, erasing yet another section of his sketch. Junmyeon had asked him to set up more tattoo designs for customers to pick from if they didn’t know what they wanted already, and it wasn’t going as great as Yifan would have hoped.

Staring critically at his work, he turns the page to look at it from another angle, when he hears a soft knock on his door. He runs a hand through his hair as he goes to open the door, and freezes when he sees whos on the other side. Zitao’s sweater is black today. And so is his eye.

***---***---***---***---***

Yifan hands the ice pack to Zitao, looking him over carefully as Zitao presses the ice pack to his eye. He has so many questions, so many concerns about the boy, but he doesn’t want to scare him off, and he really doesn’t know where to start.

“Is there anywhere else that needs attention? Ice, a bandage, anything?”

Zitao just silently shakes his head, and Yifan tries not to sigh. It’s enough that Ziato came. He doesn’t have to talk yet. He doesn’t.

“Okay then. How about some food? My friend owns a restaurant, it’s really good. My treat?”

Zitao hesitates, and Yifan presses on. “You don’t have to talk. I’m not the smoothest talker, but I can do it enough for both of us.”

He holds his breath, waiting for Zitao’s answer, and tries not not to cheer out loud when the boy nods slowly.

***---***---***---***---***

“Yifan!” Baekhyun runs up and hugs him when Yifan and Zitao walked through the door, jumping at the last second, and Yifan catches him with a laugh.

Zitao flinches when Baekhyun jumps, catching his and Yifan’s eyes. Baekhyun’s eyes widen in realization, and Yifan gently pinches his side in a warning to not scare Zitao off. Zitao was squirming under Baekhun’s gaze already, and Baekhyun must have gotten the hint, because he decides to embarrass Yifan instead.

“Wu Yifan, how dare you bring someone here _who’s cuter than me_? And how come you didn’t tell me you had a date, I would have ditched work to come make you look cute. You _know_ you are so not cutting it like this. You could be _such_ a ten if you put in an effort, like geez, _just put the effort in._” He jumps out of Yifan’s arms with a pout.

Yifan would have smacked Baekhun upside the back of his head for his antics, but Zitao looks more interested than scared, so Yifan counts it as a win. Apparently Baekhyun does too, because he smirks at Yifan as he grabs two menus and pulls them to a booth.

“I’ll be back in a minute to get your drink orders.” He leans over to Zitao conspiratorially, loudly whispering “I gotta go back to the kitchen and gossip about Yifan for a minute.”

Baekhyun bounces away, and not for the first time, Yian is grateful for Baekhyun’s ability to make friends anywhere. It was the main reason that Kyungsoo hired him as a waiter, knowing he would keep the customers coming back again and again, and it seems to have the same effect on Zitao as it does everyone else. He’s relaxing into the booth, a small smile on his lips.

“Is that the friend you mentioned?”

“No, that’s just Baekhyun. I mean he is a friend, a really good one, but Kyungsoo is the owner. They’re both really good friends of mine, but sometimes I’m amazed that Kungsoo still keeps Baek around. He’s super hyper and loud, you saw, and Kyungsoo is ...not. Baekhyun drives him crazy more often than not.”

The image makes Zitao smile, and Yifan decides that his smile is his favorite thing about Zitao. They’re interrupted when the manager, Yixing, comes up to the table.

“Kyungsoo sent me to wait on your table. Something about Baekhyun being a pain in the ass to Yifan and his friends.” He winks at the end, smiling softly at Zitao afterwards. He gets their orders, and leaves and then they’re alone again.

Yifan tries to keep a running commentary, telling Zitao stories about his friends, about anything he could think of, until the food came out. Kyungsoo was the one who brought it out, Yifan introducing him to Zitao eagerly. He didn’t notice the strange look on Zitao’s face until Kyungsoo left.

“Is Kyungsoo your boyfriend? You seemed different with him, than with the others.”

“Not anymore. We dated for a couple years, but we both knew we weren’t really meant to be together like that. He’s still one of my best friends though. I love him still, just not romantically. Though I don’t think either of us ever got out of the habit of trying to take care of each other.” Seeing his opportunity to find out who lived with Zitao, he took a chance. “What about you? Do you have a boyfriend?”

Zitao nods, slowly, like he’s scared of what will happen if he answers. “Yeah. Zhou Mi. We’ve been together since...since before my parents died. He...he used to be kinder.”

“Your parents?”

“Yeah, they died when I was eighteen. House fire.” He looks uncomfortable. Yifan lets it drop.

“Well, if you decide you like me enough to be friends, I come with a whole friend group and they double as an amazing family. They’re all I have, and Baekhyun seems to have a personal vendetta against any kind of serious negativity.”

“Tell me about your friends?”

So Yifan does. He tells him about Kyungsoo, and Baekhyun, and how Baekhyun will get on Kyungsoo’s last nerve and Kyungsoo will claim he hates him even though he still takes care of him. He tells him about how Yixing comes out with them sometimes, and about Sehun and Baekhyun, the touchiest couple ever. He tells Zitao how Sehun looks like this bitchy, bored, badass until he’s with Baekhyun and just looks like a giant baby. He tells him and Junmyeon and Jongdae, who are doing this push and pull thing of their own, but who aren’t officially anything yet.

“We’re a family. We always have been. And there’s never going to be a problem with someone new coming into the picture.”

***---***---***---***---***

“So how’d the date with the neighbor go?” Sehun smirks as Yifan walks in. Jongdae’s head snaps up, and Junmyeon raises an eyebrow from where he’s sitting at the counter, letting Jongdae doodle on his arm with a Sharpie.

“One, can I get my jacket off before you start interrogating me? Two, it wasn’t date. And three, Baekhyun needs to stop gossiping, how am I supposed to update you guys on my life if he beats me to it?”

Sehun just looks at him, and Yifan sighs. “He showed up at my apartment with a black eye. I took him to dinner. I found out that he’s twenty years old, his parents died when he was eighteen, in a fire. And he lives with his boyfriend Zhou Mi, whom he’s been with since before his parents died, and_ who used to be nicer_. I’d guess he’s the one I’ve been hearing yell.”

The others just stare at him, waiting for more details. “I don’t know what more you guys want me to say right now. That’s all I know. But it’s progress.”

***---***---***---***---***

“I like the panda.” Tao’s voice is still soft, but he’s smiling a little as he traces his finger across the panda inked onto Yifan’s sketchpad. It’s cute, a little thing that Yifan had done out of boredom more than an actual attempt to work on the designs like Junmyeon had asked him to.

“If you come by my parlor, I could ink it on you. Free of charge, for a friend.”

Zitao’s head snaps up at the offer, and his eyes are so round, Yifan backtracks immediately. “If you wanted one, I mean. A tattoo.”

Zitao smiles a little. “That would be nice.”

***---***---***---***---***

Yifan’s straightening up his area _again_, it gets so boring at work when there aren’t any customers, when Sehun calls out for him, saying there’s a customer for him, and sounding way too smug. Yifan steps out to the front, stops short when he sees Zitao standing at the counter. His sweater is yellow, and for once, it’s not zipped all the way up. Zitao smiles when he sees Yifan, and Yifan absolutely beams.

“Come on back, and you can show me where you want it.”

***---***---***---***---***

Zitao gets the little panda right at his heart. He’s calm for the whole thing, chatting with Jongdae as Yifan focuses on getting it perfect. He grins, once it’s finished, and Yifan tries not to notice how the panda looks like Zitao. He doesn’t know if he meant to draw it that way or not. Zitao agrees to go to dinner with everyone that night.

***---***---***---***---***

The yelling is worse than ever. Zitao comes to Yifan’s apartment, skin bruised and eyes watery. Yifan doesn’t hesitate to let him in.

***---***---***---***---***

“He was supposed to be at work. I didn’t think he’d find out if I went out with you guys.” Tao’s voice is scratchy, raw, and shaking as he continues to cry into Yifan’s shoulder.

“Can I ask you something, Zitao? Why do you stay with him? He just hurts you.”

“I won’t lie. I’ve thought about leaving. But he doesn’t mean to. He doesn’t mean it.”

“How do you know?”

“He used to be nicer. He was so sweet.”

“So you’ve said. But he’s not nice anymore, is he? You _have to leave_, it’s almost every day, Taozi.” The nickname just slips out, but Zitao stiffens, and Yifan doesn’t know if it’s the nickname or the statement, but he knows he’s messed up.

***---***---***---***---***

Zitao leaves. Yifan hears yelling again the next day. Zitao does not come down.

***---***---***---***---***

It’s the day before Yifan leaves, and he hasn’t spoken to Zitao in a week. He _really_ doesn’t want to leave him behind. He goes upstairs, takes a breath. Zitao opens the door a moment after Yifan knocks.

“Can we talk?”

Zitao nods, steps outside.

“Okay, so, here's the thing. I’m moving today. And I really could use a roommate to help pay the rent, because my new apartment is whole lot nicer than this one. And Junmyeon’s brother, Minseok, is looking for a chinese translator for his company, and I could totally recommend a certain roommate for the job. And I’m sorry, I know I pushed too far, and I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry, I swear I won’t do anything to make you uncomfortable, and if you wanted to talk, I’m here for you, and if not, well, you know, the wind around this apartment makes really weird noises, so maybe at the new apartment. I won’t hear anything anymore. I know. I know a lot of what I’ve heard was just wind, _and it's okay_. Its okay.”

The words pour out in a rush and Zitao just blinks for second, processing. He takes a deep breath, and hugs Yifan.

***---***---***---***---***

Yifan moves apartments. He thought it might take longer, now that he has a roommate, but Zitao doesn’t have that much stuff. It’s not easy, for Zitao. There’s a lot of guilt, for leaving without a word to Zhou Mi. He leaves a note that Yifan doesn’t read. Yifan pretends not to notice the tears that Zitao wipes away.

***---***---***---***---***

Minseok hires Zitao as a translator. Yifan finishes his set of designs for Junmyeon. Then another set, and another. It’s still hard on Zitao. He wakes up from nightmares. He still has trouble handling the guilt of leaving that way. But Yifan is there, always there, always comforting Zitao.

Time passes. Zitao heals.

***---***---***---***---***

There’s a strange noise from the kitchen, and Yifan rolls out of bed, running to the source to check on Zitao. Zitao smiles softly at him.

“It’s okay, Yifan. It’s just the wind.”

Yifan looks out the window, and sees the trees blowing. It’s just the wind.


End file.
